IFA hosts Forestry Roundtable with His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales
Announcement posted by Parsec Communications 11 Apr 2018
The Institute of Foresters of Australia hosted a roundtable on forestry with His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales in the World Heritage Daintree Rainforest last Sunday.
The Institute of Foresters of Australia hosted a roundtable on forestry with His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales in the World Heritage Daintree Rainforest last Sunday.
Rob de Fégely, Vice-President of the Institute of Foresters of Australia said: 'It was a once in a lifetime meeting and I believe a meeting of minds about the challenges we face in managing forests not only in Australia but around the world.'
Roundtable attendees included Senator the Hon Anne Ruston Assistant Minister for Agriculture and Queensland Minister for Agricultural Industry Development and Fisheries the Hon Mark Furner MP.
The Roundtable commenced with a welcome to country and smoking ceremony undertaken by Kuku Yalanji elder Mr Roy Gibson.
His Royal Highness then took a guided walk on the BaralMarrjanga elevated boardwalk in the rainforest with Mr Brett Stallbaum the Cape York manager for Qld Parks and Wildlife Service along with Rob de Fégely and Geraint Richards the Head Forester for the Duchy of Cornwall.
His Royal Highness has a well-known passion for forests and the natural world. In recent years, he has provided support to the professional forestry institutes in Australia and New Zealand and prior to that in Canada and United Kingdom.
Forest researchers have the International Union of Forest Research Organisation (IUFRO) to unite them but practising forest managers currently have no international forum. The Institutes are in the process of establishing an International Network of Professional Forestry Associations and the Institute of Foresters of Australia is the initial secretariat.
The industry is also struggling to recruit young foresters to manage our forests for conservation and production. It has lots of specialists but recognises a need for the broad practical skills of foresters to ensure all the values of forests are protected.
Managing forests without foresters would be like a health system without GPs Mr de Fégely said.
To assist this process His Royal Highness has supported two awards for young foresters, The Prince of Wales Sustainable Forestry Award and The Prince of Wales Leadership Award. The latter being an exchange opportunity to work in forest management in another country.
The two recent recipients of the Prince of Wales Sustainable Forestry Awards, Mr Jesse Mahoney from Australia and Mr Alfred Duval from New Zealand were present at the Roundtable. Both expressed their thanks to His Royal Highness stating how much the award and recognition meant them.
In concluding the Roundtable Mr de Fégely thanked His Royal Highness for taking the time to meet and for his continued support.